Challenge #24~Spring Life~

Today as the weathermen prepares us for severe weather I wrote this concrete poem for my class. Sorry it's in Scridb, but it was the only way I could get it to look correct on the blog.

Concrete Poem

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Creative Writing love ebook

Challenge #23~Back to School Blahs~

I arrived at school so excited to begin the last nine weeks. We are wrapping up our poetry unit preparing for our big celebration on Friday. Then someone asks when I am starting test prep and I realize the tests are only 3 weeks away. It seems now we are in a testing crunch time line. It was so depressing to see teachers handing out booklets of test prep today. I don't even know what to say. I guess I just have the back to school blahs.

Challenge #22~Inspired by william carlos williams

morning arrives too soon

inspired by william carlos williams

written by: lys

so much depends
upon

a diet dr.
pepper

awakening my
mind

from the sandman's
dreams.

the red wheelbarrow

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

by: william carlos williams

Challenge #21~Heart Pains~

I know that my marriage is over and I have grieved that moment, but we have tried hard to make sure that we dissolved a marriage and not a family. We did not want to make our children feel as if our issues were more important than them. At almost a year post separation I believe the picture below speaks volumes. I have no idea if my girls will understand our decision when they are older. Hopefully, they will see 2 parents who despite their faults, knew they were good parents. I have never said he wasn't a good Daddy. I know our girls feel loved. Today, I was able to capture it. Sigh. It makes my heartache not of pain, but of love. Love for my family.

Challenge #20~Bedtime Saga~

"Amen," I say as I tuck Emma and Elmo into bed. I quickly put the guard rail up, double check the tucked in Emma, and kiss her good night.

"Wov you," she says as I shut the door.

"Love you too, baby girl," I whisper.

Not even one minute has gone by, Emma has thrown back the covers, grabbed her Pooh alphabet book, and opened her door. "Mommy?" she asks.

"Emma we are not doing this again!" I exclaim, "you must go to bed."

Two and half hours later I call my mother, "Mom, you were the master at getting a particular girl to stay in bed. I have tried everything."

"What about ignoring her?" She asks.

Okay, I think to myself I am desperate. I close my door and sure enough I hear Emma's door open. I know she is just standing in the hallway dragging Elmo looking around wandering where I am. But, I was wrong. Instead she went to the kitchen let Jazzy (her black cat) in from the garage and locked the door. Then she went back to the hall. I hear her talking with Jazzy. Then she starts saying my name louder, louder, and louder. Finally, after about 7 minutes I open my door and she is standing in the hall petting Jazzy. But, she has stripped of her cute, pink PJs and her diaper. I had no idea she was a streaker.

What is a mother to do in this situation? Get angry or laugh. Well, I chose not to react and put her back to bed. Then I went straight to my computer. Motherhood...funny, fascinating, and unforgettable.

Challenge #19~Our Mortality~

Not that I know Liam Neeson or his family, but this tragic accident has given me pause. Pause to be thankful for each day that I have. Pause to be aware of those around me and realize it is those things that are important. Today nothing great happened or not necessarily significant, but I did spend time with the ones I love...hoping they realize what they mean to me.It was just simple.

Challenge #18~Syching my self up for the next nine weeks

It's Wednesday and all I can think is the fact that I have had 2 very sick kids during Spring Break, I have not had time to read the professional text- because I checked out some entertaining books from the Library-(what I call no brain required reading), and then I receive this email from The Sisters.

Fair Is Not Always Equal - The "Tigers" in the Classroom

After a lengthy rehabilitation following knee surgery, Tiger Woods made his big return to professional golf a couple of weeks ago at the Accenture Golf Tournament in Tucson, Arizona. The event was highly anticipated by golf enthusiasts all over the world, all of whom wondered, "Would he be able to perform at the same level as the pre-surgery Tiger?"

Since we're married to golfers and enjoy dabbling a bit in the game ourselves, we tuned into the tournament with the rest of the world to see how Tiger would do.

Did Tiger win the tournament? No. Did he do as well as the pre-surgery Tiger? That answer is still under debate. Regardless, Tiger Woods is still one of the best golfers in the world.

So what does Tiger Woods have to do with our lives as classroom teachers? We all have "Tiger Woods" type students; those high flying children who excel academically, functioning above some or many of the others in the room, often times in spite of us!

We believe our "Tigers" deserve wonderful instruction, and endeavor to divide our time fairly between all our students. This lofty ideal can lead to a sense of guilt when our more needy students consume a greater portion of our time. What we've come to realize is that "Fair is not always equal."

Every student needs and deserves a great "coach" in the classroom. Even Tiger Woods has a golf coach who works with him periodically to fine tune his swing, offer advice on club selection, or refine techniques. Periodic support is sufficient for Tiger. Someone of his caliber doesn't need daily coaching and instruction. He spends hundreds of hours practicing on the golf course, driving range and putting green, and having a coach check in with him once in awhile adequately meets his individual needs.

Alas, The 2 Sisters require a more frequent regime of coaching. We are beginning golfers. We need someone to check in often during our practice sessions. We need more explicit instruction, more correct modeling, and more scaffolding to ensure success. We need someone to monitor us frequently, to make sure we are not developing bad habits that will hurt our game. Is it unfair to Tiger if we get more support than he does? No. He doesn't need it. We sure do!

So, once we accept that fair doesn't mean equitability of time, we can let that old unsubstantiated guilt go. We'll periodically swoop in and coach those little Tigers in our classrooms, then send them off to practice, rejoicing in the time they free up to meet the needs of our other students. Now that's fair!

And I realize this newsletter was for me. I have been struggling all year feeling as if I have ignored my writers that quickly get started and write long and strong. I meet with them much less frequently than my others. I also realized that my main frustration is that the "Tigers" are few in my room this year. We all knew this class struggled, but I believe our pride got in the way. They won't struggle with us, we said somewhat smugly, our rooms contain best practices. We were wrong. They did struggle and I am not so sure all the needs have been met due to the overwhelming lack of confidence in writing. So before Monday I am going to sit down and map out who I need to meet with first next week, so hopefully they will go on as sixth graders just a little more confident in their abilities.